[Congressional Record: July 6, 2011 (Senate)]
[Page S4334]
TREATMENT OF SOMALI TERRORIST
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, yesterday afternoon we learned that
over the weekend a Somali terrorist who had been held and interrogated
on a U.S. Navy ship for the past 2\1/2\ months has been flown to New
York to face criminal charges in a civilian court--a Somali terrorist
flown to New York to be tried in a civilian court.
I strongly disagree with this decision. Mr. Warsame is a foreign
enemy combatant, and he should be treated as one. He should be sitting
in a cell in Guantanamo Bay and eventually tried before a military
commission.
Warsame is an admitted terrorist. In 2009, Warsame trained and fought
with the militant Islamic group al-Shabaab in Somalia. Over the last 2
years, Warsame has provided support and training to al-Qaida in Yemen.
Since the day President Obama signed the Executive order to direct
the closure of the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and
end the Central Intelligence Agency's enhanced interrogation program,
Senate Republicans have been asking the administration what would be
done with an unlawful enemy combatant captured overseas in a place
other than Iraq or Afghanistan. At one point, CIA Director Leon Panetta
speculated that if Osama bin Laden had been captured alive, he would
have been sent to Guantanamo. Over time, it became clear that the
administration did not have a policy in place that could address this
circumstance. So without a straight answer, we were left in the dark on
how this administration would handle an enemy combatant captured
overseas.
Finally, after waiting 18 months, I think we have our answer. As was
disclosed yesterday, Warsame has been in military custody for months,
during which time he has been interrogated by various law enforcement
agencies. However, now he has been read his Miranda rights. This is a
Somalian terrorist captured overseas who has now been read his Miranda
rights. Why? Why? Why is a man who is a known terrorist and enemy of
the United States being afforded the protections of an American
citizen? Now he is in the hands of civilian authorities and will be
given all the rights accorded to a U.S. citizen in a civilian court. It
is truly astonishing that this administration is determined--
determined--to give foreign fighters all the rights and privileges of
U.S. citizens regardless of where they are captured.
In the case of Alwan and Hammadi, two enemy combatants who fought and
killed U.S. soldiers in Iraq, they were captured in Bowling Green, KY,
my State, and are now awaiting trial in a Bowling Green courtroom--a
decision being summarily condemned by Kentuckians and most of their
elected leaders from both parties at the State and Federal levels. And
now Warsame, an enemy combatant with ties to al-Qaida who was captured
overseas and detained by the military for months, is now inside the
United States awaiting trial as a civilian criminal suspect. It is not
necessary to bring or continue to harbor these terrorists within the
United States. The infrastructure is already in place to handle these
dangerous individuals at Guantanamo. However, it has become abundantly
clear that the administration has no intention of utilizing Guantanamo
unless an enemy combatant is already being held there. Instead, the
administration has purposely imported a terrorist into the United
States and is providing him all the rights of a U.S. citizen in court.
This ideological rigidity being displayed by the administration is
harming the national security of the United States of America.
Alwan, Hammadi, Warsame, and all future enemy combatants belong in
Guantanamo. They do not deserve the same rights and privileges as
American citizens. The administration's actions are inexplicable,
create unnecessary risks here at home, and do nothing at all to
increase the security of the United States.
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